Cor Pan’s tragic Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 Facebook post

MH17: When it Went Missing and Crashed0:59

Malaysia Airlines flight 17 departed Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur at 4:15 PM local time on Thursday. About four hours later, it crashed near the border of Russia and the Ukraine. WSJ's Jason Bellini walks through the timeline of the tragedy.

July 18th 2014

4 years ago

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A DUTCH man believed to be a passenger on flight MH17 posted an image of a Malaysia Airlines plane on his Facebook page before the fateful flight.

The seemingly sarcastic post now appears to have foreshadowed the coming tragedy.

“This is what it looks like in case it goes down,” Cor Pan wrote on Facebook.

Possible moment-of-impact video emerges0:54

Amateur video has surfaced online which claims to show a 'plane crash' near the coal mining village of Hrabovo, Ukraine. Courtesy Novorossiya Novorossiysk/YouTube

July 18th 2014

4 years ago

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Upon close inspection of the photo, however, the letters “RC” are visible beneath the plane’s front wheel. That indicates the plane’s registration number was 9M-MRC. MH17’s number was 9M-MRD.

Pan could have posted the photo after flying on a different Malaysia Airlines plane, MH194, from Kuala Lumpur overnight.

Elsewhere on social media, an Instagram post appears to show the passport and boarding pass of a young Dutch man who was on MH17.

According to the caption, he was en route to Bali.

Dutch authorities have confirmed that 27 Australians were passengers on the Malaysia Airlines flight, which was shot down in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.

Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove expressed his sympathy for the victims and their families.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected, their families and loved ones,” he said.

“Today we need to come together and do all we can to comfort and support each other.”

Earlier this morning Malaysia Airlines released this statement:

“Malaysia Airlines confirms it received notification from Ukrainian ATC that it had lost contact with flight MH17 at 1415 (GMT) at 30km from Tamak waypoint, approximately 50km from the Russia-Ukraine border,” the carrier said in a statement on Facebook.

The crash comes just four months after the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which remains missing.